1.) Potential Obama nominee Elizabeth Warren is a huge pain in the ass, former colleagues say — “While the general consensus seems to be that Warren will get the chance to head the consumer-centered agency she claims to have come up with, it has not gone unnoticed that the Obama administration appears to be dragging its feet on her nomination.” TheDC’s Amanda Carey can tell you why: Warren is an obnoxious human being. “[She] has gotten major criticism in the way she’s carried out her duties,” George Mason law professor Todd Zywicki told TheDC. “There are serious concerns about her impartiality and that she uses these jobs as a platform for self promotion.” A bankruptcy attorney who worked with Warren on the National Bankruptcy Review Commission added his own anecdotes to claims that Warren is only in this for the chance at a daytime talk show. For example: When it came time for the committee to draft its report, Warren hijacked the process, substantially rewrote several sections, and told everyone else involved in the project to suck an egg. Such was their ire that the rest of the commissioners wrote a dissenting report correcting Warren’s version. Then again, Warren will fit right in with the baby daddies, slumlords, tax evaders, and mockers of the mentally disabled who currently pollute the White House.
2.) Second stimulus maimed by reality — The president vociferously peddled his new idea for stimulating things during a speech Wednesday, but made no mention of how he wouldn’t pay for it. “Obama’s proposal for $180 billion in fresh infrastructure spending and business tax breaks is not satisfying many of the groups he needs on his side,” reports the Washington Post. “Not lawmakers on Capital Hill who are leery of raising the deficit by spending more, not economists who say the plan is too modest to create many jobs, and not business groups that say the tax benefits come with too many strings attached.” Even Sen. Michael Bennet, who really loves his president, pooh-poohed the new stimubucks program. “I will not support additional spending in a second stimulus package,” the Colorado congressman said; adding that if Obama wants to throw more money in the money pit, he should grab a handful of “unused funds”–of which there are almost $200 billion–from the first stimubucks bill. Incidentally, Gov. Mitch Daniels recently suggested making similar use of unspent stimubucks in a WSJ op-ed. The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait compared reading the op-ed to “watching a person with severe disabilities manage to finish a race.” Question: Will he say the same about Bennet?
3.) Sen. Harry Reid denies single-handedly wrecking U.S. economy — “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insists that despite his powerful post he had ‘nothing to do’ with the economic downturn,” Politico reports. Reid denied that he single-handedly popped the real estate bubble and fired millions of Americans during an interview on Nevada TV. “You know that I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here,” he said. “You know that I had nothing to do with these unemployment figures.” Reid added that even though he walks like Godzilla, and talks like Godzilla, he is actually trying to build America up, not tear America down. “My job is to create jobs. My opponent says that is not her job to create jobs. And I think that is really wrong. I think it is my job to create jobs, and I’ve done my best. Is there more that needs to take place? Of course, there is.” If things turn around between now and November, however, Sen. Reid stressed that he has no problem taking responsibility for saving America from itself.
4.) Virginia governor releases report demonstrating love of freedom — “In a proposal released Wednesday, McDonnell calls for up to 1,000 licenses for private retail stores compared with 332 state-run stores now,” reports the AP. “The plan reserves 600 licenses for large outlets such as grocery and discount stores. It reserves 250 for small mom-and-pop shops and another 150 for small-scale sales in pharmacies.” Isn’t that wonderful? More freedom for consumers and sellers! Except, wait! State legislators in Virginia aren’t so sure about this plan. They are skeptical that private vendors will be able to bring in the same amount of money as stores run by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. That is, the state legislature does not believe that 1,000 vendors over the course of 365 days can sell $230 million worth of booze to whatever percentage of Virginia’s nearly 8 million residents are over age 21. In addition to the hemming and hawing of a mathematically incompetent legislature, there are the religious groups who believe “the proliferation of stores will foster more alcoholism and tear families apart.” Deep sigh. Gov. McDonnell has his work cut out for him.
5.) Obama to replace Rahm with Fannie Mae sycophant? — With White House chief of staff Rahmbo Emanuel almost surely leaving in the next few months in order to return to Chicago, Tom Donilon, Obama’s current deputy national security adviser, is said to be next in line for the job. According to the Examiner’s Tim Carney, Donilon would be a horrible pick. “He was a top lobbyist at Fannie Mae during the housing bubble, when Fannie fought — with Democratic help — to avoid any restrictions or curbs on its work to inflate home values and get more people under mortgage. Before that, Donilon was a lobbyist at O’Melveny and Myers, where Fannie was a client. In 2008, according to his financial disclosure forms, Donilon was a paid consultant for Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Apollo Investments.” In other words, a great addition to the White House’s expanding roster of major league jagoffs.
6.) Contrary to earlier reports, Senate gun hearing will not signal end of all freedom everywhere — “The Senate Judiciary Committee announced it will hold a hearing next week to discuss a bipartisan bill intended to update federal gun measures and reform what critics say is an outdated firearm licensing process,” reports TheDC’s Chris Moody. “The bill, which was proposed more than a year ago, specifically addresses inefficiencies and problems within the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by eliminating certain restrictions on gun ownership and modernizing operations within the bureau.” Even though the bill has the endorsement of the NRA and Charlton Heston’s ghost, gun-loving bloggers couldn’t resist freaking out over the idea of Senate Democrats talking about their guns. This is why it sometimes helps to pick up the phone, talk these things through. No one is going to take away your right to bear arms, or arm bears.